Let me help

You can't fix it

Walking into the living room, Joker was sitting patiently on the couch. He jumped a little when he saw me, but calmed down a bit. The blood from the wound on his head had slowly trickled down his jawline. "Let's get you cleaned up," I said "the bathroom's this way." I made a small gesture for him to follow me, in which he gave a small nod. Both of us went into the bathroom, "Sit down on the toilet seat," I said "I'm going to need you to take your shirt off." Joker just gave me a look of uncertainty, eyes wide with panic. But he did as I asked, and slowly but surely, he took off the purple vest and orange button up shirt. I reached into the medicine cabinet and pulled out the first aid kit. When I turned to face Joker, I stopped dead in my tracks. His chest and stomach were littered with scars and bruises. It made me sick, I can't believe that Harley did this. I kneeled down in front of him, wetting a cloth with some disinfectant. Reaching up, I placed the damp cloth against the wound on Joker's head. He flinched a bit, but didn't pull away. "Just do what you need to...Bruce." He said, his voice wavering a little. I looked up at him...how did he know? I just looked at him confused, like I didn't know what he was talking about. "Oh come on Batsy. I may be a worthless idiot, but I'm not stupid." Those words caught me by surprise, how much did he have to go through that made him think like that? "You know now you don't have to hide behind that mask," he said with a slight smirk "I know who you are Bruce Wayne." I just stared at him with a blank expression, how did he figure it out? "It really wasn't that hard really, seeing your suit I knew you had to be someone filthy stinking rich. From what little skin I can see that you are a white male, and you are American." 

Wow. I have never met anyone yet who could figure that out. "How long have you known?" I asked him, looking him straight in the eyes. He laughed a little and said "Oh I've known for quite a while Bruce. A few years at least, but I never told anyone." Why wouldn't he tell anyone? With what he knows, he could easily take me down. There has to be a reason, I just don't know what. "I couldn't tell anyone," he said taking a deep breath "I didn't want to because, I need you." He put his hands on either side of his head, and started laughing. I was so taken aback by this, I just sat there not knowing what to do. "You know what Bruce? Hehe  I never know what's real anymore!! I thought that the love Harley and I had was real! HAHA, and I remember things that I'm not even sure exist! The mind can be such a cruel thing you know!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" 

Why is he telling me this? He was never this open with telling anybody anything. However, I don't think he's ever been pushed this far before. Right now he needed to calm down. "Joker, look at me," I said taking his face in my hands "you need to calm down now." I don't think he even noticed the tears running down his pale cheeks. Wiping them away with the pad of my thumb, he just seemed to break down more. "You know you can't fix me...right?" He said, more tears running down his cheeks. Pulling the cowl off my face, I smiled at him a little. "I don't believe that," I told him "I want to help you, in fact, I need to help you." Both of us get closer, until our noses are almost touching. Joker seemed uneasy about the situation, but made no protest about it. I leaned in a bit more, so our lips touched, and we moved in sync. We parted after a while, and just stared at one another. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that" Joker said with a small smile, and a blush dusting his cheeks. Smiling back at him, I replied with a "Me too."